Highway sign

ABSTRACT

A highway sign having indicia thereon to indicate the location of an on-or-off ramp with respect to the sign.

j I W Unate States atet [72] Inventor Frank W. Preeshl 2620 London CL, Village of Brunsvllle, Minn. 55378 [21] App]. No. 772,503 [22] Filed Nov. 1, 1968 [45] Patented Dec. 14, 1971 [54] HIGHWAY SIGN 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 116/63, 40/125,211/182, 248/33 [51] Int. Cl E0ll9/10 [50] Field 01 Search 40/1251,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,055,172 9/1936 De Tagle et al 40/134 7 125, 134, 145; 116/63, 63 P, 1I4;2l1/182; 248/475, 158; 350/97, 100, 104, 105; 340/22, 33,

2,275,824 3/1942 Kirkpatrick 350/104 X 2,507,880 5/1950 Bell 40/134 UX 2,613,463 10/ 1 952 Transue... 40/125 2,834,133 5/1958 Carmack. 40/125 3,236,481 2/1966 Howard 248/475 1,618,681 2/1927 Smith et al 116/63 UX 2,902,669 9/1959 Lucarelli 340/22 OTHER REFERENCES Publication: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highway" US. Dept. Commerce Bureau of Public Roads, June 1961.

Primary ExaminerLouis J. Capozi Attorney-Alfred E. Hall ABSTRACT: A highway sign having indicia thereon to indicate the location of an on-or-ofi ramp with respect to the sign.

Patented Dec. 14, 1971 INVENTOR FRANK W. PREESHL ATTORNEY HIGHWAY SIGN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in highway signs having indicia thereon to assist drivers of motor vehicles in locating the position of an on-or-off ramp with respect to the sign.

With the ever-increasing population comes an ever-increasing number of freeways and subhighways. These highways are extensively traveled and require highway signs which can indicate quickly and accurately to the motor vehicle drivers when exits or entrances are approached. There is no standard means of locating these signs with respect to the on-or-off ramps, the entrances and exits, Hereafter throughout this specification onor-ofi' ramps or entrances and exits will be referred to as approaches.

Sometimes the sign indicating that an approach is ahead is located after the approach while in other cases it is located immediately at the approach and finally in still other cases it is located ahead of the approach. For this reason, when a driver is on a strange freeway traveling at the posted speed limit, he may miss his desired approach because the highway sign is located immediately at or after the approach and therefore he does not see the approach because he is looking at the sign and thus does not realize that he is passing the approach until he has already gone beyond it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention disclosed herein relates to new and useful improvements in a highway sign which enables drivers of motor vehicles to determine the location of the highway approach with respect to the sign even while traveling at posted speeds. In its most simple fonn it consists of indicia which are painted with luminous paint or otherwise treated to provide a light-reflecting surface for readily seeing the sign at night and which are appropriately positioned on the sign to give an indication of the location of the approach with respect to the sign.

Thus an important object of the present invention is to construct a sign having a rigid, elongated body of sheet material supported on a sign post in an edgewise upstanding position and having thereon appropriately located indicia to indicate the location ofa highway approach with respect to the sign.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a highway sign having luminous or otherwise light-reflecting surfaces located on this sign in such a position as to give a motor vehicle driver an immediate knowledge of the location of the approach with respect to the sign.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which;

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a sign indicating the presence of an approach and having indicia thereon to indicate that the approach is immediately ahead of the sign;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of a sign having indicia thereon to show a motorist that the approach is located immediately at the sign;

FIG. 3 is a similar view showing a sign having indicia thereon indicating that the approach is located after the sign;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a sign on an enlarged scale showing thereon multiple locations of indicia each of which locations indicates the position of an approach with respect to the sign; and I FIG. 5 is a front view on an enlarged scale of a sign showing indicia in multiple locations which are mounted in a different manner than the indicia shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 there can be seen a highway 2 which may be either a one-way or a two-way street with an approach 4 and a sign 6. It will be noted that the sign 6 is located immediately after approach 4 in the area 8 formed by the highway 2 and approach 4. Located on the lower right-hand portion of sign 6 is a surface area 10 that has been painted with luminous paint or otherwise treated to provide a lightreflecting surface which can be readily seen at night. The fact that surface 10 is located towards the bottom of sign 6 indicates that approach 4 will be reached ahead of sign 6.

Thus any motorist traveling down highway 2 in the direction shown by arrow 12 and desiring to follow approach 4 will, when he sees surface 10 on sign 6 realize that he must turn ahead of sign 6.

FIG. 2 is a similar view to that shown in FIG. I except that sign 6 is located immediately at the point where approach 4 leaves highway 2. It will be noted, however, that surface area 10 is located in the middle of the right-hand portion of sign 6 indicating that the sign 6 is located directly at the point where a motorist must turn to follow approach 4. Thus when a motorist is traveling down highway 2 in the direction shown by arrow 12 and is looking for approach 4, he will be able to tell from surface 10 that he must turn to the right directly at sign 10 in order to be able to follow approach 4.

FIG. 3 is a similar view to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception that sign 6 is located ahead of approach 4. It will be noted that surface area 10 is located in the upper right hand portion of sign 6 indicating that approach 4 is located after sign 6. Thus when a motorist is traveling down highway 2 in the direction shown by arrow 12 and desires to follow approach 4, he will know upon seeing sign 6 with surface 10 in the location shown that approach 4 is located after sign 6.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a highway sign 6 on an enlarged scale showing surface 10 in the upper right-hand portion of the sign 6 to indicate that an approach is located after the sign. If the surface is located as shown at 14 in the center portion of the right-hand portion of the sign then it indicates that the approach is located immediately at the sign. Finally if the surface is located as shown at 16 on the lower right-hand portion of the sign, it indicates that the approach is located ahead of the sign. It is obvious that surface 10, instead of being painted with luminous paint or otherwise treated to provide a light-reflecting surface, could be of an appropriately colored transparent material behind which an actual light source could be located. The manner in which the surface 10 is treated or is otherwise manufactured to cause it to be readily seen during both the day and night is unimportant as long as it can be readily seen.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a highway sign 6 on an enlarged scale showing a different manner of mounting indicia which indicates the location of an approach with respect to the sign. Thus surface 10 is in the form of a tab or plate which is attached to signs 6 in such a manner as to extend beyond the sign. It will be noted, however, that surface 10 is still located in the upper right hand portion of the sign 6 to indicate that an approach is located after the sign location. The surface could also be located as shown at 14 and 16 for reasons previously disclosed and would extend beyond sign 6 as explained for surface 10.

It is obvious that any type of light-reflecting or light transmitting device could be used in the present invention. The crucial point of the invention is that the indicia must be easily seen and located on the sign in a position which will quickly indicate to a motorist the location of any approach with respect to the sign.

Thus applicant has disclosed a novel and improved highway sign having indicia thereon to assist drivers of motor vehicles in locating the position of a highway approach with respect to the sign.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. I have now,

therefore, fully illustrated and described my invention and what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claim lclaim:

l. A new and improved highway sign comprising;

a. a rigid elongated body of sheet material having an information display surface;

b. means supporting the body in an edgewise upstanding position;

0. a light-transmitting device having a generally rectangular configuration with an elongated central axis and being located in one of a plurality of certain predetermined specific areas of said infonnation display surface whereby the location of the light-transmitting device and disposition in the display surface with respect to the body edges identify the location of a highway approach with respect to said sign;

d. the location and disposition of said light-transmitting devices including the following;

l. the location of the light-transmitting device in the upper right-hand portion of the said display surface. at which location the central axis of said generally rectangular light-transmitting device extends generally vertically to indicate that the approach is located after said sign;

2. the location of the light-transmitting device in the middle right-hand portion of the said display surface. at which location the central axis of said generally rectangular light-transmitting device extends generally horizontally to indicate that the approach is located at said sign;

3. the location of the light-transmitting device in the lower right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally obliquely downwardly toward the lower right-hand edge to indicate that the approach is located before said sign.

l IIK 

1. A new and improved highway sign comprising; a. a rigid elongated body of sheet material having an information display surface; b. means supporting the body in an edgewise upstanding position; c. a light-transmitting device having a generally rectangular configuration with an elongated central axis and being located in one of a plurality of certain predetermined specific areas of said information display surface whereby the location of the light-transmitting device and disposition in the display surface with respect to the body edges identify the location of a highway approach with respect to said sign; d. the location and disposition of said light-transmitting devices including the following:
 1. the location of the light-transmitting device in the upper right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally rectangular lighttransmitting device extends generally vertically to indicate that the approach is located after said sign;
 2. the location of the light-transmitting device in the middle right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally rectangular lighttransmitting device extends generally horizontally to indicate that the approach is located at said sign;
 3. the location of the light-transmitting device in the lower right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally obliquely downwardly toward the lower right-hand edge to indicate that the approach is located before said sign.
 2. the location of the light-transmitting device in the middle right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally rectangular light-transmitting device extends generally horizontally to indicate that the approach is located at said sign;
 3. the location of the light-transmitting device in the lower right-hand portion of the said display surface, at which location the central axis of said generally obliquely downwardly toward the lower right-hand edge to indicate that the approach is located before said sign. 